Excerpts from Chris Christie's inaugural address

Jan. 21, 2014

Written by

| Statehouse Bureau

The following are excerpts from Gov. Chris Christie’s inaugural address:

“The people have definitively set the course for the next four years. They have affirmed the decision to take on the big problems. They have validated the idea that our answers to our problems must be bold. They have rewarded the principle that we must tell the truth about the depths of our challenges and the difficulty of real solutions.

“And it wasn’t just some of our people who affirmed this course. It was not a vocal plurality like four years ago. No, this time, it was the largest and loudest voice of affirmation that the people of our state have given to any direction in three decades.”

• “I do not believe that New Jerseyans want a bigger, more expensive government that penalizes success and then gives the pittance left to a few in the name of income equity. What New Jerseyans want is an unfettered opportunity to succeed in the way they define success. They want an equal chance at the starting; not a government guaranteed result.”

• “For the fact is that every one of God’s creations has value. Every person, no matter what challenge they are facing, must believe that they have inside of them all of the God-given ability needed to be happy. They will not believe that if all they hear is that life is unfair and that only government can fix that unfairness. They must first believe that self-worth comes from inside each of us. Government cannot solve every one of these problems — government can only be one part of that solution.”

“We will make it our priority to have every child in New Jersey have a chance to get a good education. No matter what adult we have to offend, no matter where you came from, no matter what sacred cow we must slay, no matter how much we have to change the conventional thinking, we will not stand for the achievement gap which exists between our best and least educated children.

• “We will end the failed war on drugs that believes that incarceration is the cure of every ill caused by drug abuse. We will make drug treatment available to as many of our non-violent offenders as we can and we will partner with our citizens to create a society that understands that every life has value and no life is disposable.”